July 2011 Archives

Being anal retentive may not win you friends, but it sure pays off in the classroom where you're doomed if you're disorganized. Yet even if you're not a neat freak by nature, you can maximize teaching and learning time by disorganization-proofing your classroom. I previously suggested you do this by wearing everyday supplies in a tool belt--or smock or whatever suits your style. And now some suggestions for managing everyday paperwork.

Between lesson plans, handouts, student work, notes from parents, permission slips, and main-office mail, most teachers are swamped with papers every day--even in today's world of cloud computing, mobile technology, and electronic gradebooks. So many papers from so many people and places that it's hard for even the tidiest teachers to keep those papers from piling up. That's why a lot of teachers' desks look like they've just been ransacked, and why a lot of teachers are leafing through stacks of paper when they should be teaching. To prevent such inefficiency, you need a system for processing all those papers. Not just a couple of trays that make your desk look neater, but a system that lets you focus more on teaching and less on handling or searching for documents. Here are some components of such a system:

1. In- and out-trays for student work. Arrange two sets of stackable trays, one for students to turn papers in on their way in and out of class (and for you to place papers in that you collect during class) and the other for you to store graded papers until you return them, on a table along the side wall near the entrance to your classroom. You'll need a pair of trays for each class period or for each subject if you teach in a self-contained classroom.


2. Folders for daily instructional documents. Tape heavy duty expandable file folders, one per subject you teach, to the sides of your projector cart if you have one--otherwise go with a table or the side of a file cabinet. At the start of each day, load the folders with lesson plans, handouts, and any other documents you'll need during class that day--separated by dividers inside each folder. This simple idea will do for your daily documents what a tool belt will do for your daily supplies: move them from a remote cabinet or cluttered desk to your fingertips.


3. Containers for administrative documents. Arrange a row of trays or baskets on a table near the entrance to your classroom. Or, better yet, prevent trays/baskets from being knocked over and save floor space by mounting plastic wall file holders--available at most office supplies stores--to the wall. You'll need a separate container for each category of administrative papers. Here's a possible breakdown:
   
   
   • Students - Urgent. Notes from parents, field trip permission slips, and any other papers students need you to return to them by the end of class. Instruct students to deposit these documents into this box instead of dropping them on your desk or handing them to you. Then, at an opportune time, you can retrieve, review, and return these papers.
     
   • Students - Non-urgent. Tardy slips and any other papers submitted by students for your records only. Again, instruct students to place these papers directly into this container so that you don't misplace them or waste class time handling them.
     
   • Miscellaneous - Urgent. Memos, phone messages, and any other papers from your mailbox that require your prompt attention, but not during class time.
   • Miscellaneous - Non-urgent. Magazines, brochures, newsletters, handouts from workshops, and any other materials that you'd like to read or file but are not time-sensitive.
   
   
4. Calendar and containers for past assignments and handouts. Students returning from absences are entitled to know what you covered while they were gone. They should not, however, be entitled to interrupt you or their classmates to get caught up. Some teachers prevent this by maintaining a class website where students can access assignments. But if students can't always access your website or you don't have one, consider recording lesson topics and assignments (color coded for each subject) on a monthly planning calendar along the side wall near the entrance to your classroom. Be sure to laminate your calendar so that you can erase and update information using wet-erase markers. Next, set up boxes or wall file holders, one per subject, beneath the calendar. Each time you distribute a handout in class, file extra copies in a folder within the proper box or file holder. Now when students return from absences, they just need to refer to the calendar to see what assignments they missed, and reach into the appropriate folder to obtain them.


5. Mail folders for homeroom students. If you oversee a homeroom, you're likely to get as much mail addressed to your homeroom students as to you. To separate students' mail from yours, set up a box or wall file holder with an individual folder for each homeroom student in alphabetical order. Now, instead of distributing mail to students during homeroom, file it in their folders so they can pick it up themselves. This not only gives you one less task to squeeze into hectic homeroom periods, but also frees you from having to hold onto--and forget about, if not lose--mail for students who are absent.

This system for organizing papers will not only improve instructional efficiency but may also--in combination with a tool belt or other means of wearing everyday supplies--make your desk so dispensable that you'll want to do what I did: get rid of it. Of course, a classroom without a teacher's desk will seem strange to students and visitors, so expect lots of questions about its whereabouts. No problem, though. Just hitch up your tool belt--or tug at your smock or vest--and tell the truth: "My desk? I'm wearing it."

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Posted by David Ginsburg at 3:41 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

It might be a stretch to say I was sick more than I wasn't as a first-year teacher, but it sure seemed that way at the time. Colds. Flu. Bronchitis. If there was a bug going around, I was sure to catch it. And between those physical ailments and the mental and emotional tolls of first-year teaching, I was running on fumes from September to June.

Insult to injury, as a Teachers for Chicago (TFC) intern, I had all the responsibilities of a certified teacher, but received only a fraction of the salary and few of the benefits. And one of the benefits I didn't get was sick days. That's why no matter how sick I was--fever, swollen glands, laryngitis--I never took a day off the whole year. I'm not proud of this, since it's wrong to be around kids and colleagues when you're contagious. But what choice do you have when you're making $83 a day ($16,133 a year)?

One choice I had--and thought about on the ride home one draining day after another--was to go back to the less stressful, higher paying business world I had come from. But I set those thoughts aside, and made it to summer with my commitment to TFC still intact. This meant another year as an intern while earning my credentials at night, followed by two years as a certified teacher at full salary--and full benefits. At the same time, I knew the average career of an urban teacher was less than four years, and unless something changed, I would risk burning out and quitting like many new teachers do.

The question was, what would have to change? And the answer was me. In particular, my out-of-balance approach toward work that was compromising my health and personal life, and hurting my performance in the classroom. I thus resolved that there would be no more late nights putting together the "perfect" lesson (especially since it usually bombed anyway), and no more attending every extra-curricular school event at the expense of my physical fitness or social life.

And the difference from year 1 to year 2 was dramatic. Better health, better attitude, and most of all, better results--not only in the classroom, but outside of it too. In fact, it was at a party that second year--a party I'd have blown off the previous year--where I met my wife!

I'm not saying subsequent years were better than my first year just because I was more balanced. But I am saying they wouldn't have been better had I not been more balanced. Teaching is a profession of passion, so there needs to be a fire burning inside of you to excel at it. But without balance, that fire is going to flicker as it did for me throughout my first year, and eventually burn out as it does for thousands of teachers every year.

So whether you're a zealous new teacher or a veteran who ran on fumes this past year, take steps now to ensure balance both in and out of school this coming year. And if you need help doing this, Mike Anderson's book, The Well Balanced Teacher, includes lots of practical ideas for meeting four fundamental teacher needs: belonging, significance, positive engagement, and yes, balance. (Anderson also supports the book with a facebook page by the same name.)

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Posted by David Ginsburg at 9:56 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Ronald was six when he noticed his father had black grease around his mouth after working on a car. A few days later at school, Ronald tried to emulate his dad by coloring the area around his own mouth black. When the teacher (who I'll call Mrs. Davis) discovered what Ronald had done, she promptly instructed the rest of the class to close their eyes, and rushed Ronald to the front of the room. She then told the class to open their eyes and, after everyone had a good laugh at Ronald's expense, she ordered Ronald to go clean his face.

Ronald is retired now following a successful career as an attorney, and enjoying time with his family including several grandchildren. And yet even now, memories of those few mortifying moments in Mrs. Davis' classroom bring Ronald back to the humiliation he felt over 65 years ago. Humiliation caused not by an innocent little boy's attempt to emulate his dad, but by his teacher's response to it.

As a junior in high school, Scott experienced similar humiliation when his teacher (who I'll call Mr. Allen) called him "an idiot" after Scott made a mistake at the wheel during driver's ed class. Scott is around 50 now and, like Ronald, has achieved success both personally and professionally. Yet also like Ronald, he has strong memories of an upsetting incident that took place in school decades ago.

But unlike Ronald, for Scott these memories are positive. That's because, whereas Mrs. Davis never acknowledged or atoned for her mistake, Mr. Allen told Scott the next day that what he said was wrong, and apologized to Scott for it. As a result, Scott has never had lingering bad feelings from Mr. Allen's original comment, and has always admired Mr. Allen.

Ronald's and Scott's experiences remind us of the huge--and lasting--impact we as educators have on children, and the importance of doing our best to make sure that impact is positive. But let's be realistic: 30 kids with 30 personalities, and one teacher who just happens to be human. Who among us isn't going to make mistakes? And not just misquoting an author or forgetting a formula from time to time. No, we're talking big-time screw-ups that have the potential to hurt kids. Really hurt kids, as in Mrs. Davis' case with Ronald and Mr. Allen's case with Scott. (And in my case when I inexplicably made fun of a self-conscious student's new braces.)

The point, then, isn't that we should hold ourselves to a standard of perfection in our interactions with students. But we should hold ourselves to perfection when it comes to owning our imperfections and their impact on students.

Does this mean that being willing and able to recognize your mistakes and apologize to students for them guarantees you greatness as a teacher? Of course not. But in his book, Star Teachers, Martin Haberman says that being unwilling or unable to do those things certainly prevents greatness. I agree... and I bet Ronald would too.

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Posted by David Ginsburg at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Graduates of University of Virgina's math teacher education program have had more success teaching with technology after a couple of years on their own than they had when UVa staff was helping them with it. This according to Joe Garofalo, Co-Director of the University of Virginia Center for Technology and Teacher Education, during a session he co-facilitated at the recent International Society for Technology in Education Conference (ISTE) called Preparing Mathematics Teachers to Use Technology.

Dr. Garofolo also speculated that the reason for this is that it takes time for teachers to get a handle on classroom management. And based on my experience, he's right. In fact, I've known many new teachers who've entered the classroom thinking their tech savviness would guarantee teaching success. But within a few weeks they learned the hard way that it's the teacher that makes the technology. And, as much as anything, it's classroom management that makes the teacher.

The message, then, for all teachers but especially newcomers is simple: of course you should use technology to help maximize student engagement and learning. But you must also use classroom management practices that allow students to benefit most from that technology.

So before you spend the summer planning lessons for the fall, develop a classroom management plan needed for those lessons to be effective. And if you're looking for a resource to help you do this, there's a reason Harry and Rosemary Wong's book, The First Days of School, has been so popular for so long: it's practical. The Wongs also provide lots of great--and free--tips and resources in their Effective Teaching column on Teachers.Net.

Of course there are many other resources with classroom management pointers, including this blog. It's also a good idea to reach out to experienced colleagues for suggestions. But regardless how you do it, what matters most is that you set yourself and students up for success when using technology in class. After all, as 2010 Washington Teacher of the Year Jamie Yoos said during a session he co-facilitated at ISTE called Improving Student Results in STEM Subjects, "Simply putting technology into a classroom, hoping that it will engage students is not the answer."

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Posted by David Ginsburg at 6:26 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

Web 2.0 applications. Mobile learning. Digital portfolios. Flipped classrooms. Just a few of many topics I learned more about at the recent International Society for Technology in Education Conference (ISTE), and plan to tweet/blog about in the coming weeks. But what stood out to me at ISTE even more than all the great ideas for integrating technology were all the reminders that while technology can enhance teaching, it can't replace teachers.

Developmental molecular biologist John Medina spoke to this in his opening keynote address when he cited theory of mind--which relates to human qualities such as empathy and the ability to peer inside someone else's mind--as a predictor of teaching competence. And in a session titled Improving Student Results in STEM Subjects, New Jersey Center for Teaching and Learning Director Robert Goodman said "the instructional moment is the interaction between teacher and student."

This isn't to say that either of these esteemed educators or any others who spoke at ISTE thinks we should cut back on technology in schools. On the contrary, speaker after speaker advocated strongly for providing all students technology-rich classrooms. And I agree with them. Yet I also agree that, in the end, teachers influence the quality of students' educational experiences more than technology does.

I offer this as encouragement for those who feel daunted or threatened by technology. At the same time, you've got no choice. It's our duty now, as it's always been, to provide schools where kids can learn to their potential, which technology helps us do. Change can be challenging, so it's understandable if you're tentative about technology. Keep in mind, though, that just as countless veteran teachers successfully implemented new approaches such as cooperative learning, so too can you learn to use technology to its fullest in your classroom.

But also keep in mind that you'll need the same qualities to be effective in a technology-rich classroom that you've needed to be effective in a traditional classroom. In particular, the human qualities--per theory of mind--needed to achieve what Science Leadership Academy Principal Chris Lehman called "the most important thing that we do" in his closing keynote at ISTE: help children become fully realized people of their world.

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Posted by David Ginsburg at 9:53 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend